kfm.co.ug
@kfm Thu, 08 Feb 2024 17:06:06
How to deal with rising cancer cases
According to government statistics, Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) registered around 3,500 new cancer cases in 2015 but the number of new cases registered annually has now increased to around 7,500. Patrick Kamara hosts Mrs Rebecca Mayengo, a cancer survivor, and Dr. Henry Ddungu from UCI for an insightful conversation on how to deal with rising cancer cases. Listen to the podcasts below;
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@matookerepublic Fri, 09 Feb 2024 06:00:40
New leadership takes helm at Uganda Tourism Board
The Minister of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, Hon. Tom Butime, has inaugurated new members to lead the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). They were officially introduced at a ceremony at Mestil Hotel in Kampala. The new Board members are: Ms. Hoareau Kakooza Pearl EarlyGift (Chairperson), Ms. Olive Birungi Lumonya, Ms. Kebirungi Sally Sandra, Mr. Operemo Vicent, […]
The post New leadership takes helm at Uganda Tourism Board appeared first on Matooke Republic.
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observer.ug
@observer Wed, 07 Feb 2024 04:51:45
Environmentalists call for release of Bugoma forest boundary report
Environment activists have come out demanding government to release the boundary opening report for Bugoma central forest reserve in Hoima and Kikuube districts.
In 2019, cabinet issued a directive to the ministry of Water and Environment to open boundaries of Bugoma forest as one of the ways of solving the land disputes it is engulfed in. The boundary opening was to determine whether the land leased to Hoima Sugar Limited by Bunyoro kingdom in 2016 is located within or outside the forest reserve and also to protect Bugoma from illegal and future encroachment by communities and private individuals.
In August 2022, therefore, the ministry of Lands did and completed the survey process of opening the boundaries of the forest. However, more than a year later, the report for this survey has not been released.
Activists argue that the delay to release this report has led to continued encroachment and degradation of Bugoma forest and has stalled most of the actions they would take to conserve it.
According to Anthony Wolimbwa, the national coordinator for Climate Action Network, the purpose of the report is to clear issues of land conflict, resource ownership and knowing exactly where the forest boundaries pass, without the report, the current encroachment and degradation of the forest is likely to continue.
“It is unfortunate that the report has not been shared despite it having been concluded and the encroachers, land grabbers and those prospecting in land continue to take advantage of this. So, the earlier that report is released, the easier and quicker to save our forest,” Wolimbwa said.
He added, “We need government to come out clean on that and share that report to the public because it is supposed to be a public document. Any further delays are not good from the conservation point of view as this is likely to escalate the encroachment, land conflicts and overall degradation of the forest.”
In an interview with The Observer, Christine Nakimwero Kaaya, the woman member of parliament for Kiboga district and a conservationist, said they are very much interested in getting that report because of the oil activities going on in Bunyoro sub-region which have been projected to generate one million tonnes of carbon annually. The forest reserves in Bunyoro should therefore absorb those emissions before other forest reserves in other parts of Uganda.
“Without this report, it is difficult for the country to do negotiations and bargaining in carbon trade because we don’t know the exact boundaries and acreage of this forest reserve which can be based on to know the amount of carbon it can absorb and therefore demand the right amount of funds from the emitters,” Kaaya said.
According to the legislator who is also the shadow minister for environment, among the things delaying the boundary report are individuals who encroached on the forest illegally and they want to formalize their stay. She says these have tried to entice the local governments in Bunyoro to change Bugoma and Budongo forest reserves into national parks such that they can be accommodated under the eco- tourism concept.
“According to our laws, the management of national parks provides for eco-tourism and under that practice, an individual can apply to develop a national park by constructing infrastructure. But most of the investors when given that leeway, over concentrate on construction of tourism infrastructure and focus less on conserving the environment,” she said.
She noted that the release of this report was a concern by members of parliament in the last budgetary allocation where they even proposed that National Forestry Authority (NFA) be frozen out of the national budget. Though this didn’t happen, Kaaya said that in the upcoming budget allocation process, they will request NFA to update them about the report because it was a priority in the alternative government budget in the financial year we are concluding.
Juliet Mubi, the spokesperson of NFA, told The Observer that since it is the ministry of Lands that did the boundary opening, it is the one supposed to release the report.
“There is sometime last year when the minister of lands promised us that the report was going to be released in one week but it is now four months and it is still not yet out,” she said.
When asked about the report, the minster of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Judith Nabakooba briefly said the report was completed by her ministry and submitted to the ministry of Water and Environment which will present it to cabinet for discussion and decide on the next course of action.
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@observer Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:06:35
URA eyes Shs 250bn tax from gold exporters
Some of the stakeholders in Uganda’s gold industry have welcomed a recent directive by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) on gold exportation, saying it will encourage value addition and improve the sector’s tax contribution to the country.
On January 28, URA alerted all airlines operating in Uganda not to accept any gold shipments from Uganda if the exporters have no proof of clearance of all outstanding arrears or made arrangements to do so.
“I am writing to inform you that customs management has guided that no gold export will be processed from January 28, 2024 until the exporters have cleared their outstanding tax arrears or made arrangements to do so with commissioner customs. Accordingly, do not accept any gold shipments in your flight as doing so will constitute conveying unaccustomed goods contrary to section 199 of East African Community Customs Management (EACCMA), 2004 as amended,” the email from one of the URA customs offices reads in part.
Section 199 bars airlines from carrying goods that have not been cleared by the tax body. By 2021, the gold industry had overtaken coffee as the top foreign exchange earner with $1bn (Shs 3.7tn) worth of exports.
BACKGROUND
In a bid to regulate the industry, parliament passed the Mining and Minerals Export Levy on Refined Gold Regulations 2023 that provided for an export levy of five per cent on the value of refined gold for export as well as a 10% tax on unrefined gold. However, the figure of exports sharply fell by 80% in 2022 to $201m and some gold exporters blamed it on URA’s levy.
In a mitigating measure, Energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa suspended the levy but the impact was inconsequential as there were hardly any stockpiles of gold that had been withheld by local refineries and exporters. The tax rates were later revised to $200 per kilo of refined gold, and 1% on the value of each kilo of unrefined gold.
In his December 2022 report to parliament, Auditor General John Muwanga faulted URA for failure to collect gold tax worth Shs 340bn from gold exporters, despite the players in the industry reaping trillions from gold trade.
“A total of Shs 340bn in taxes had not been collected from gold exports valued at Shs 6.92tn for the year under review. Management attributed non-collection to the minister’s statutory guidance of staying the implementation of the 1% export levy.”
In essence, the levy actually helped streamline the gold industry to rid it of masquerades and tax evaders. A number of gold traders are simply exporting unrefined gold, claiming that the product is in transit in Uganda and, therefore, does not attract a tax. In the process, these gold traders are denying Uganda the much-needed revenue.
Nevertheless, Uganda Revenue Authority is determined to collect the tax. Going by the current figures, URA stands to collect at least Shs 250bn in the financial year from the gold exports, a figure expected to grow over the years.
CURRENT SITUATION
Since URA’s directive to the airlines, some exporters have come out to claim they are now unable to export gold as a result of financial losses and logistical complications in the business. They also claim that gold dealers now prefer to use Rwanda as the favourite destination to refine gold.
A source within the ministry of Finance, who preferred anonymity, said these gold traders who claim that dealers now prefer to use Rwanda as a source of destination for refining gold, are the ones who do not want to pay tax. Documents seen by our team show that these traders export most of their gold to India. India does not allow the importation of refined gold.
This means that these traders instead export raw gold. As a result, the traders receive 0.6 per cent in tax benefits equivalent to $400 per kilo for exporting raw gold to India.
“These traders’ tax payments and investments in Uganda are too low to make a positive impact on the economy”.
“Look, we are not benefiting much from those who say dealers now prefer to go through some of our neighbouring countries. Whether the gold comes here or not, these people simply do not want to pay tax. So, we have nothing to lose,” the official pointed out.
Several key players have come out to applaud the decision as a game-changer in the regulation of the industry. Shukla Patel, the managing director of Opal minerals, says some gold dealers have been used to transiting gold through Uganda without paying tax under the guise of value addition.
“This levy will help grow our local refineries and control the exportation of gold. The regulations will control the outflow of gold, build local refineries and ensure that it aligns with national economic objectives and sustainable development goals,” he says.
Meanwhile, Alex Kisambira, an economist, reasons that the export levy is part of a broader economic policy aimed at achieving specific macroeconomic objectives.
“For example, a government may use such levies to stabilize the currency, control inflation, or manage the balance of payments,” he says.
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@observer Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:17:31
Tororo-Gulu railway line incurs financial losses
In 2020, President Yoweri Museveni officially inaugurated the rehabilitation project for Tororo-Gulu meter gauge railway line.
The initiative was designed to bolster the value chains of projects in northern Uganda and stimulate industrialization by facilitating cost-effective transportation of raw materials and finished products in the region.
However, the completion of the 382km Tororo-Gulu railway line rehabilitation project has been in a state of uncertainty, marked by persistent setbacks and financial losses since its initiation.
The gloomy state of the project is captured clearly in the auditor general’s annual report for the financial year ending June 2023, presented by the auditor general, John Muwanga. The report notes that the Uganda Railways Corporation suffered substantial losses due to theft.
“The corporation also incurred a loss due to theft of materials/equipment on rehabilitation of Tororo-Gulu railway... This is an indication of weaknesses in operating, profitability and its ability to sustain provision of service,” the report noted.
These losses have been building up since the project was started in 2020. The Tororo-Gulu line is needed to open up northern Uganda to more trade opportunities, and it is expected to lower the cost of transport for goods headed to neighbouring countries such as South Sudan.
When the rehabilitation commenced, the European Union (EU) provided funding to the tune of Euros 21.5 million, complemented by the Ugandan government’s counterpart funding of Euros 26.07 million.
However, the contract with the railway project contractor, Sogea Satom, was terminated. This decision arose from Ugandan government’s inability to fulfill its co-funding commitments, resulting from delayed payments. Subsequent to this development, the European Union took the decision to terminate its grant for the railway project in Uganda.
Consequently, the Ugandan government faced termination damages equivalent to 10 per cent, totalling Shs 16 billion, as highlighted in the auditor general’s report for the financial year 2022. It is noteworthy that at the time of contract termination, the contractor had completed only 15 per cent of the rehabilitation project.
Subsequently, the government pursued another contractor, assuming sole funding responsibility for the railway project. The ministry of Works and Transport, on behalf of the government, allocated Shs. 199.9 billion for the Tororo-Gulu railway rehabilitation.
Uganda Railways Corporation entered into a contract with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to undertake the rehabilitation of the Tororo to Gulu section of the railway line. This project was officially launched in August 2023 by the minister for Works and Transport, General Katumba Wamala.
Over the last two years, the auditor general’s report revealed that the Uganda Railways Corporation had experienced substantial losses, witnessing a 9.2 per cent increase compared to the previous year’s loss of Shs 32.22 billion, despite a revenue surge of 13.83 per cent.
The auditor general attributed these challenges to weaknesses in operations, profitability, and the corporation’s ability to maintain services. The Uganda Railways Corporation’s spokesperson, Linonn Ssengendo, refused to comment on the auditor general’s report, stating that the team has not yet fully reviewed the document. He stated they need to understand the report before responding.
“We have to first read the report and understand it and then we shall be able to respond,” he said.
On the challenges faced by the corporation involving theft of materials and vandalism, Ssengendo mentioned that the corporation is actively addressing them by collaborating with Uganda People’s Defence Forces and other security agencies for comprehensive surveillance.
Additionally, he highlighted efforts to involve local leaders in safeguarding railway lines on behalf of URC to curb vandalism. The auditor general recommended that the accounting officer formulate strategies to bolster the corporation’s revenue-generating capabilities.
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